Marca are reporting that Cristiano Ronaldo has agreed a new contract with Real Madrid, although the player himself is yet to confirm it.
The newspaper claims club President Florentino Perez has had time to sit down with the Portuguese star on the pre-season tour to the United States, where the pair discussed past misunderstandings, and a contract renewal until 2018 has been agreed.
If true, it would make Ronaldo the highest-paid player in La Liga with a salary of €17m after tax for each of the next five seasons, €1m more than Lionel Messi receives, and all but ensures he will end his playing days at the Santiago Bernabeu.
To date, Ronaldo has owned 60 per cent of his image rights, with the other 40 per cent going to Real Madrid, but he is now set to increase that percentage with the club also reserving the right to some kind of return on their investment.
Sources close to both Perez and Ronaldo are quoted as saying “it is clear there is now a better understanding between them”, with the player himself understood to feel he is now much more appreciated by people within the club.
Real’s intention is to formally announce the agreement before the start of the new La Liga season on August 17 and hopefully after Tottenham Hotspur’s Gareth Bale has joined the Spanish giants.
It is believed the key figure in the Manchester United man staying at Madrid has been agent Jorge Mendes, who is thought to have persuaded his client that he would not find a better club in the world to play for than Real Madrid.
“Where would you be better off than you are here?” he is reported to have told Ronaldo.
